The Aegis-equipped destroyer Myoukou will depart Friday from the Maizuru base in Kyoto Prefecture to replace the destroyer Hiei in the Arabian Sea, the Defense Agency Maritime Staff Office said Tuesday.
The move forms part of the government's antiterrorism campaign in the region.
The dispatch of the 7,250-ton Myoukou will be the third involving an Aegis warship since the 2001 enactment of a special law enabling Japan to provide logistic support for the U.S.-led war on terrorism in and near Afghanistan.
The dispatches are controversial because they might contravene Japan's constitutional ban on exerting the right to collective self-defense.
Japan's Aegis destroyers may share data with U.S. warships, with their operations possibly including military cooperation with the United States, such as shooting down missiles believed to be targeted at U.S. vessels.
Three Japanese warships are currently operating in the Arabian Sea, according to the office.
The dispatch was ordered "in line with a rotation," said Adm. Koichi Furusho, chief of staff of the Maritime Self-Defense Force.
The Myoukou will be accompanied by the fuel supply ship Hamana, which is to leave Sasebo base in Nagasaki Prefecture to replace the Tokiwa in February or March.
It will be the fourth such mission for the 8,150-ton Hamana, Furusho said.